1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package for packaging an ink jet recording medium recorded with inks ejected by an ink jet process.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various information processing systems have been developed in response to the rapid development of the information industry, and recording methods and apparatuses suitable for information processing systems have diversified. Among various recording methods, ink jet recording methods are widely used because they are useful for recording on various recording materials, the required equipment is compact and inexpensive, and is also very quiet.
Examples of known recording materials used for ink jet recording processes include those composed of an ink receiving layer on a support, wherein the ink receiving layer is formed by applying a solution containing inorganic fine particles such as silica, a water-soluble resin such as PVA, and a curing agent for the water-soluble resin, and then drying the coating, and the layer receives ink droplets from the outside to record characters, diagrams and the like. The product form of the ink jet recording material is usually a long sheet roll of several meters to several tens of meters, or a sheet stack containing several tens of sheets to about 100 sheets.
When such a recording material is delivered in the form of a sheet stack, a plurality of sheets are stacked, and usually packaged in a package composed of a resin film such as a polypropylene film for the purpose of, for example, storage before use, protection during transportation, or decoration.
When the packaged recording material is used, a necessary number of sheets are taken out through the opening of the package, and then the opening is closed thereby protecting the remaining recording material from stains or damage during storage and transportation. For this purpose, the opening is configured so that it may be opened and closed multiple times.
Specific examples of widely known adhesive materials for packages include an adhesive material such as an acrylate provided on the main body for accommodating a recording material and/or the flap for closing the opening through which the recording material is taken out from the main body, whereby the flap and the main body may be repeatedly bonded together (when the opening is closed) and released (when the opening is opened) (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 7-138545).
Common ink jet recording materials are composed of a paper base having thereon an ink receiving layer containing inorganic fine particles such as silica, so that they are heavier than general paper. On this account, in order to prevent the package from opening during distribution or hanging in stores, a material such as poly-2-ethylhexyl acrylate having relatively high adhesiveness is used to allow repeated adhesion (closing) and release (opening) between the flap and the main body.
Another example is a removable adhesive tape composed of an arbitrary adhesive or an acrylic releasable adhesive, the tape allowing repeated adhesion and release (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. 5-95864, and JP-A No. 6-263168).